Girls basketball: Hubs fall to conference-leading Cougars

HAGERSTOWN — Catoctin girls basketball coach Amy Entwistle came into Friday’s MVAL Antietam game at North Hagerstown with two messages for her team.

“I told them two things: ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff and do the little things,’” Entwistle said.

Those “little things” added up to a big 51-42 win for the Cougars, who are sitting atop the MVAL Antietam with a 9-1 conference record (11-5 overall).

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter, shooting a combined 6-for-31. Four free throws, however, were the difference for Catoctin, which took a 10-6 lead into the second quarter that it would not relinquish.

The Cougars started the second quarter on an 8-0 run en route to a 20-15 lead at halftime. Both Catoctin and North (7-7, 5-4) continued to shoot for a low percentage (7-for-29 for the Cougars in the half, and 7-for-27 for the Hubs), but Catoctin outrebounded the Hubs 24-14.

“We did the little things — getting the extra rebounds, diving for loose balls, playing solid defense. We got good minutes from everyone tonight,” said Entwistle.

While the Cougars found their stroke in the second half, the Hubs continued to struggle. Catoctin started the third quarter on an 11-4 run, shooting 8-for-13. Caroline Grossweiler scored six of her team-high 10 points in the period. The Hubs couldn’t solve Catoctin’s man defense, trying to speed up the game only to their detriment, shooting 4-for-16.

“(Our players) were playing a lot faster than I wanted them to,” said North coach Cyndi Benjamin. “We missed a lot of layups tonight. Easily 30 points in easy shots.”

The Hubs turned it on in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cougars 17-14, but by then it was too little, too late.

Iman Scott scored a game-high 21 points and had nine rebounds. Crystal McLeod was next on the Hubs with nine points.

“Iman’s a great player and we rely on her a little too much,” said Benjamin. “(The other players) need to realize they can score too and not put it all on Iman’s shoulders.”

The Cougars outrebounded the Hubs 48-31 for the game, Grossweiler leading the charge with 18. Courtney Clemons had 10 points and seven rebounds and Kendall Zickafoose had eight points and eight rebounds. JV callup Kristy Erfurdt had eight points and seven rebounds.

“Our leading scorer (Tara Woelfel) was out,” Entwistle said. “We brought up Kristy and Kylie Raubaugh, and they got great minutes in her place. Overall, I think this was the best team win this season.”